Finding forgotten Baby Boomer

Retailers court mature women

April 21, 2004|By Tracie Rozhon, New York Times News Service.

NEW ORLEANS — Three women, all in their 50s, were gathered on the wide porch of Ella Flower's antebellum house here looking at clothes arrayed on wicker chairs. "I went to Dillard's this morning and found these, but nothing matches," Flower said, holding up a pink silk blouse and a yellow skirt. "I buy a skirt here, a top there, but it doesn't look pulled together."

Her friend Lorraine Friedrichs, who is a size 2 and as slim as a teenager, was frustrated, too, by what she found in stores. "I look around, and it's really depressing they're not for someone my age; they're too decollete, too skimpy. I can fit into these things, yes, but most aren't appropriate for me."

Fear not, say America's retailers. After years of neglect, women's clothiers are rediscovering the Baby Boomer. This month, Gymboree, a children's clothing company, is opening three shops in a new chain called Janeville, aiming expressly at women 35 and older. These Boomers, merchants say, may not have the figures they did in college, but still want up-to-date fashion, including sprightly flowered dresses and embroidered jackets that, at first glance, look like one-of-a-kind pieces. Last month, some of the biggest names in American clothing--Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne and Jones Apparel Group--began shipping new or revamped lines that they say herald the mature American woman.

"These women are disenfranchised consumers, and I count myself in the group," said Lisa Harper, 44, the chief executive of Gymboree, whose new Janeville chain takes its name from a California town. She says women her age have been offered just two choices: dowdy or too young.

"There's a huge market," Harper said. "It's not like these women grew older, turned a corner and forgot about looking stylish. They didn't develop amnesia at 40."

Nor did they lose track of their wallets. American Demographics magazine estimated that 40 percent of women 45 to 54 years old are employed in a managerial or professional occupation. The NPD Group, a market research firm, estimated that middle-age women spend $23.3 billion a year on clothes, compared with $11 billion for teenagers.

"The department stores stopped liking her," said Mark Mendelson, a group president for women's clothing at Jones. "They were quite clear. They said, `We don't want the older customers. They're going to die.' They simply forgot their most loyal customer."

In interviews, retail analysts and clothing manufacturers say that the model for recapturing these forgotten customers is Chico's, a 559-store chain selling private-label apparel in 45 states.

In an interview, the chief executive of Chico's, Scott Edmonds, 46, was blunt about the company's success. "Nobody tries to get into the minds of 53-year-old women the way we do," he said.

Pat Murphy, the chain's chief merchandising officer, said Chico's was continually meeting with focus groups to hear what their typical shopper wants.

"She wants all the fashion," Murphy said. "She wants sheer fabrics, uneven hemlines, flirty skirts, color. But while she doesn't want to be reminded of her age, she doesn't want to look ridiculous."